


Beautiful Storm

by Mellowyellowdiamonds



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: F/M, Felicity is a figure skater, Olicity on ice, but I need the fluff so here it is, meet cute, mentions of child abuse in chapter 2, olicity au, so corny even by my standards, such a corny fluffy ending, was meant to be a one shot but it grew!, written in anticipation of the World Figure Skating Championships
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-19
Updated: 2019-04-07
Packaged: 2019-11-23 16:26:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 17,255
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18154235
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mellowyellowdiamonds/pseuds/Mellowyellowdiamonds
Summary: When ice hockey player Oliver Queen runs into a fiery figure skater Felicity Smoak, a little magic blossoms on and off the ice.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hi Guys!
> 
> Any avid figure skating fans here?
> 
> I became totally addicted to figure skating after the Winter Olympics so in celebration of 2019 Worlds I had to write this little meet cute.
> 
> Please note that because this is an AU I have had to keep the ages of the characters and Olympic years very vague.

Oliver gets in about ten shots when he notices the sounds. It was a wailing tune, something akin to what a stray cat would howl at night and it repeated over and over again. He looks over to the other side of the rink and to his great offence realizes that half of the ice rink at Starling Crystal Skating Club has been claimed by a small girl who was skating around to the god awful music that seemed louder to his ears by the minute. 

Dammit Coach Diggle had booked out this rink for his exclusive practice from 6 am to noon every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Oliver couldn’t think why or how this little interloper with her horrible music was infringing on his practice time. 

Smashing the puck into the net with more force than necessary Oliver speed skates to the other end of the rink where a slim figure with all the right curves in the right places was prancing around on the ice, oblivious to Oliver and his rage.

“Hey,” Oliver calls. The girl didn’t appear to hear him and was now spinning while contorting her body into what looked like a circle. If Oliver wasn’t so busy being annoyed at his practice time being disrupted he would be impressed. Damn she was flexible. He’d never seen anyone who could bend like that. 

As if reading his thoughts the girl change positions, this time spinning like crazy with one leg straight up in the air.

“Hey!” Oliver calls again, remembering why he had marched up to her. Impressive spins or not he was here to claim his rink back.

Still completely oblivious to him the girl moves on from spinning and launches herself into the air to do some sort of jump.

 _So she’s a figure skater of some sort_ Oliver thinks to himself. Come to think of it she did look slightly familiar. He didn’t have the foggiest idea who she was but there was definitely something familiar about her. Then again most figure skaters he’d seen on TV were pretty and this one was no exception. Aside from their skills they all seemed to look like shorter little models most of the time from what Oliver could gather whenever he saw one on TV while Thea and his mother swooned over them. 

Oliver briefly wondered if Thea and his mom would know who this girl was. They had become obsessed with figure skating after cheering him on during the Winter Olympics.

Getting annoyed at himself for being side tracked and slightly fascinated by the blonde who was now doing jump after jump, still completely unaware of his presence Oliver decides to call out again. This time louder. 

“Hey you! You’re not supposed to be here! I have this rink booked at this time today.”

That did it. He was definitely loud enough this time. To Oliver’s horror and guilt the girl looses her balance mid jump and crashes onto the ice. For a moment Oliver freezes in horror, afraid that she’d broken something but to his surprise and awe she merely picks herself up and skates angrily towards him. 

“What the frack do you think you’re doing shouting at me mid jump like that? What is wrong with you?” 

She’s right up in his face, all five foot four of her, looking so furious her little body is shaking as her bright blue eyes flash angrily while her cheeks and lips are a rosy red, exactly the way one would describe a beautiful, angry Disney princess. 

Oliver slides back a bit and blinks.

“Do you know I could have broken something all thanks to you carrying on like a brute?” she snaps at him. “So what is this all about that you feel you have to scream at me mid jump?” 

She’s rolling her eyes and tapping her foot on the ice. Oliver can’t help but notice how pretty she is. 

“I didn’t scream at you,” he blurts out defensively. “I called a few times but you didn’t hear me above all that caterwauling music you have on.” 

“Next time have the decency to wait until I am not mid jump before screaming at me,” she says as she casts him a withering look. 

“I…I…er I’m supposed to have this rink to myself at this time.” He doesn’t know why he’s backed down from his previous angry stance but there’s something about the way she’s rubbing her thigh and wincing that makes him feel a bit guilty. He did cause her to fall after all.

“Oh yeah, you must be the other guy who has the other end of the rink. My coach pulled some strings and had Coach Diggle surrender half of the rink so I can practice. Did no one tell you?” 

She looks slightly less terse and Oliver doesn’t understand why but he feels glad for it. He was also curious to find out who her coach was. Coach Diggle was not the type of man to surrender anything to anyone. 

“Your coach got Coach Diggle to give up half the rink? That’s impressive.” 

“Oh if you ever met her you’d understand why,” Felicity shrugs. “Look are you good here? All your questions answered? Because I really have to get back to practice.” 

 _That was it? That’s all there is?_ Oliver wants to ask her but he refrains himself from doing so because he’d like to think he’s a guy with some self-respect. Clearly she had no idea who he was, just like he had no idea who she was. However there was something about her that made their interaction feel unresolved.

Oliver didn’t like to admit it but being Centre for the Starling Banks Ice Hocky Team afforded him a certain reputation with the opposite gender and to have her look at him with such impatience was a blow to his ego. He understood well enough he had no right to feel like this but still it stung. 

“I…uh…I,” Oliver stutters not quite sure what he’s going to say next when a pair of crunching heels storming over rink side disrupts him from his thoughts. 

“FELICITY,” the voice bellows, booming loudly across the ice. “FELICITY SMOAK, I ASKED YOU TO PRACTICE SO WHAT ARE YOU DOING CHATTING UP SOME PRETTY BOY. YOU’RE LAZY. THAT’S WHAT YOUR PROBLEM IS. LAZY. THAT’S WHY YOU CAN’T JUMP.”

For a brief moment Oliver expects Felicity to stand up for herself the way she had stood up to him but nothing. Her shoulders merely slump as she sighs quietly and begins to make her way to her coach, a scrawny, sneering woman who looks like she hadn’t smiled in a decade.

He gently grasps Felicity’s wrist before she could skate away. 

“What the hell?” Oliver asks, eyes wide with incredulity at first and then the offense he feels on Felicity’s behalf kicks in. “That’s how she talks to you?”

“Look I appreciate the concern but it’s nothing new. Coach Waller’s always talks to me like that.” Felicity shrugs her shoulders and he’s expecting another brush off but to his surprise he’s on the receiving end of a smile instead. A beautiful, luminous smile with a spark that evidently this horrible Waller woman hasn’t quite managed to quash yet. 

“The horrified look on your face right now confirms that I’m not the crazy one and that she is indeed a dreadful woman,” Felicity grins at him. “Sometimes I worry she’ll brainwash me into submission and I’ll start thinking her treatment of me is normal and deserved.” 

“No one deserves to be spoken to like that,” Oliver assures her leaning closer and placing a hand on her shoulder. 

They both glance at his hand and then each other. Felicity smiles another smile, this time blushing a little. Not knowing what to do Oliver gives her shoulder a squeeze before removing his hand. 

“Err sorry for making you fall. I hope you didn’t hurt yourself. I guess I’ll see you around rink buddy?” He gazes at her hopefully after the last comment. 

“Rink buddy, I like that,” Felicity chuckles. “I’m gonna go before Coach Waller has an aneurism. Just a heads up she yells a lot so don’t let that get to you. And I’ll turn the music down a bit.” 

“Thanks,” Oliver beams at her pleased that they’d somehow managed to recover from their rocky start.

“By the way Felicity my name is Oliver Queen.” He offers a hand, which she takes and shakes firmly while smiling at him. 

“FELICITY,” the aggressive woman bellows again, this time looking like she is going to bust a vein. “ARE YOU PLANNING TO GET YOUR JUMPS BACK OR DO YOU WANT TO BE A FAILURE?”

“You going to be ok?” Oliver asks looking worried. 

“You’re sweet but I’ll be fine,” Felicity assures him, patting him quickly on the chest. Oliver decides he likes this and puffs up his chest with pride. “I’ve put up with her since I was 13. I’m a survivor trust me.”

She gives him another pat on the chest and skates away as Oliver stands and watches her.

*** 

“Speedy what do you know about Felicity Smoak?” Oliver asks as he settles himself down at brunch and is about to take a bite from his stack of ten pancakes (he needed the energy for practice). “I’ve just found out that I’m sharing the rink with her three days a week…” 

He’s interrupted mid sentence by a series of high pitched squeals from Thea, squeals that are so loud they actually startled him. Across the table his mother, who is usually dignified and immovable appears to be choking on a piece of fruit as she squirms in her seat.

“Are you guys okay?” he asks glancing at them curiously. Thea and her theatrics he could understand. His mother was a whole other matter. 

“Ollie you do not, before mom and I, casually announce that you breath the same air as Felicity Smoak,” Thea tells him, giving what appears to be a full body shiver, causing Oliver to shake his head in confusion.

“Mom what’s she talking about?”

“Remember when we went to support you at the Olympic Games dear? We went for you but we saw Felicity Smoak’s gold medal winning Don Quixote performance live.” Moira Queen didn’t explain any further but merely beamed at him like that comment was supposed to explain everything. 

“Where she triple lutzed – triple looped her way to Olympic gold,” Thea chimes in. “And we’ve been obsessed with her ever since. We’ve been to see every ice show she’s participated in, in the US Ollie. This is serious business. Now you’re telling us you share the rink with her. You get to see her every day. OMG have you seen Carmen live?”

“That caterwauling music?” Oliver asks looking confused. He was hoping for some reliable information about Felicity as he recalled Thea was into figure skating. He hadn’t expected his sister and mother to be too obsessed to actually tell him anything useful. 

“It’s not her best program but I blame it on her coach Waller and her choreographer Slade,” Thea tells him bouncing on her chair excitedly. “Her skating at the ice shows is so much better without them breathing down her neck.” 

“About that coach,” Oliver interrupts hoping to get on track again. 

“Her coach is a witch. She trained Iris West and everyone thought Iris would get the gold. Iris was Waller’s darling, well as darling as anyone can be to someone like Waller. Waller brought Felicity along to the Olympics as a spare but Felicity had the better tech content and back loaded all her jumps so she got the gold. Waller hates her for it.”

“That explains a lot of things,” Oliver says quietly. 

“Oh God did you witness one of their training sessions?” Thea asks looking like she was engaging in a particularly juicy bit of gossip. “There are videos of her yelling at Felicity constantly during practice. Poor Felicity. She only puts up with it because she’s got something to prove.” 

“What do you mean by that?” Oliver asks. Thea was finally over her gushing and was actually giving him useful information. 

“Iris West retired at the grand old age of 18 after she lost the gold to Felicity. Word is that Waller loves Iris as much as her cold dead heart can love anyone but she’s only got Felicity now as her star pupil so she resents her. Felicity stays with her because she doesn’t want to be known as a one hit wonder. Why she thinks that is ridiculous since she won everything and beat Iris constantly leading up to the Olympics. I mean she had a meltdown at Worlds the same year but that was understandable given how much skating she’d been doing and how much pressure she was under. Felicity wants to keep competing to prove she’s not just another teenage jumping bean. The fandom wars are really nasty and the Iris West stans just won’t give Felicity a break. It’s been two years so I say she’s proven herself enough but she keeps at it the stubborn girl. I really wish she’d drop Waller as a coach though.”

“I didn’t know you were such an avid figure skating fan Speedy,” Oliver says impressed by all the useful information his sister had given him on Felicity.

“She is what the young people call a Felicity Smoak Stan I believe,” Moira says, smiling an amused smile at her daughter.

“Mom you took the jet to California one weekend to see her at Four Continents so don’t talk to me about being obsessed,” Thea huffs. 

“Speedy can you show me some videos of Felicity’s programs later?” Oliver tries to sound as casual as possible. 

“Oh my god do you have a crush on her?” Thea squeals, clapping her hands together. “She’s a bit young for you but totally legal Ollie. She turned 19 in spring.”

“I’m just getting to know someone I share a rink with,” Oliver says tersely. There was definitely an age difference. It wasn’t huge to the point of being eyebrow raising but he was acutely aware of how young Felicity looked despite her 19 years. Anyway this was all nonsense on Thea’s part. He wasn’t planning to chase Felicity around on ice or anything. Good lord that was harassment. He just wanted a better understanding of the person he was going to run into each day. 

“You have to let me meet her. You HAVE to Ollie! You can’t deny Mom and me this experience.” Thea is grabbing his arm and shaking it furiously. 

“Didn’t you say Felicity has enough problems with her evil coach without you two accosting her as well?” 

Oliver is thinking there is no way he’s going to have Thea squeal and pass out in front of Felicity. He’d already made a bad impression the other day when he caused her to fall.

“She is renowned to be very nice to her fans Oliver,” his mom says with a smile from across the table. Oliver shakes his head in disbelief. Apparently the figure skating fandom was a whole new world on it’s own. 

“Let me have a few more conversations with her first before I introduce her to my crazy family.”

*** 

Oliver knows he’s supposed to do a few laps and work on his shooting however he can’t help but be mesmerized as Felicity skates. The music is choppy and frantic but there is a gracefulness about her. Not to mention those amazing spins and the way she is able to contort her body so easily. Felicity was on amazing athlete. Her speed across the ice rivaled his and Oliver could not imagine zooming across the ice at these speeds while looking polished and beautiful at the same time. That was before taking into account the number of jumps and falls he’d seen Felicity do during a practice. 

They were on friendly terms now. Oliver always greeted her with a smile and wave to which Felicity responded with an equally enthusiastic smile that made his day. As a show of goodwill and a sign of their burgeoning acquaintance, Oliver notices that Felicity plays her music at a much lower volume these days. 

He really didn’t mind the music anymore. Her beautiful movement on ice made up for any faults he found with the music.

Noticing that Waller seems to have vanished today, Oliver skates up to Felicity just as she reaches the end of her run through.

“Want to pack up early and grab some brunch with me?” he asks shyly. “My treat. To make up for causing your fall the first time we met.” 

“Oh goodness you still remember that,” Felicity laughs, shaking her head. “I’ve forgotten it long ago.” 

“You forgot our first meeting?” Oliver clutches his heart in horror. “I’m hurt. Especially since I thought we were going to be rink buddies.”

“I didn’t forget that you tried to make a valiant attempt to save me from Amanda Waller,” Felicity teases as she skates one loop around him before stopping right in front of his face. “Speaking of the dragon lady, I can’t go with you lest she show up. She has a habit of doing that. Showing up to scream at me on some days but not other days. Keeps me guessing.” 

“It’s not like she can do anything to you even if you leave practice early,” Oliver says, feeling confident. 

Based on the information Thea had dropped on him, he’d done a lot of research on Felicity and saw the situation between her and Waller for exactly what it was. “You’re her only star pupil for the next few seasons. What can she do to you really?” 

“You know what you’re right. I’m hungry and I need to eat.” She gives him a sunny smile as she does the most adorable head bobble to affirm her reasoning.

“And get to know your rink buddy,” Oliver adds feeling a little braver as he grabs her hand.

Felicity merely smiles while her pink-gloved hand grips onto his and together they skate towards the exit. 

*** 

“So that’s why some days I see you fall all the time and some days you jump just fine,” Oliver says with an expression that is akin to a light bulb going off in his head.

“Just how often do you watch me jump?” Felicity teases taking a sip of her strawberry milkshake. Oliver had been so excited to take her to Big Belly Burger, citing that this place had the best curly fries and burgers in the business. If Amanda caught her anywhere near this food she would probably beat her over the head with an ice skate. Still Felicity hadn’t felt so relaxed in a long time. It was fun to go out with someone and just eat a meal like a regular person. Even better that the person in question happened to be tall, handsome with piercing blue eyes and a killer smile. 

He seemed sweet too despite his reputation with ice hockey groupies. Felicity wasn’t above doing a bit of googling. She reasoned it was all part of friendly research. Just like Oliver admitted he’d seen her Don Quixote program quite a few times.

“You’re fascinating,” Oliver says at once without any shame. “And remarkable. It’s hard not to watch you. I worry when I see you crash onto the ice though.” 

He didn’t add that it was hard for him to fight his instincts to skate right over every time she has a bad fall. That would be a bit…intense given their new found friendship. Still he reasoned to himself that it was perfectly normal for him to feel worried when he sees someone as small as her come crashing onto the ice. 

“I’m trying to add a quad salchow and quad toe loop to my repertoire. A few of the younger Russian prodigies are going senior next year and they all have quads. Pretty soon my technical content will not be good enough and I can’t rely on my reputation for PCS any longer,” Felicity answers looking wistful. A shadow casts over her face and Oliver sees something, almost akin to dread. 

“Do you…do you need to do that?” he asks, impulsively covering her small hand on the table with his. “You won the Olympic gold medal, two Grand Prix finals, a world title. Do you need to keep going and killing yourself over this?” 

It was ridiculous really. She was just like him. A tough athlete. A professional. And yet for some reason all he wanted to do was protect her. 

“I want to make the next Olympic team,” Felicity confesses. “And to do that I need to keep upping my technical content. Did you know the year after the Olympics I so badly wanted to quit? I grew three inches and my technique started falling apart. Amanda was…well Amanda was Amanda. I sometimes wonder if it would have been better for me to quit and accept that scholarship at MIT. Maybe life would have been very different.” She looks a little wistful as she seemingly ponders what life could have been. Oliver notices she hasn’t pulled her hand away from under his. He gives it another gentle, reassuring squeeze.

“You’re smart as well? I’ve seen your rotation speed in the air Felicity and now you’re telling me you were offered a scholarship to MIT?” He tilts his head to get a good look at her. Stunning. Soft blonde curls, big blue eyes, the face of an angel really. An unbelievably cute one. No wonder she was America’s little darling even if she didn’t believe it herself. 

“170 IQ,” Felicity says matter of factly. “But that has nothing to do with my skating and certainly doesn’t stop people from saying the gold medal was a fluke and that I’m nothing but a back loader.” 

“You were a badass. You did eight jumping passes in like 2 minutes,” Oliver protests indignantly. “I’d like to see your haters do the same.” 

He’s looking so angry and down right vicious, Felicity can’t help but burst out laughing.

“Thank you Oliver. I was pretty pissed when you yelled at me mid jump but I’m glad we share a rink.” He smile fades a little as she adds quietly, “I…I don’t have many friends. This life I lead, it’s not really conducive to socializing.” 

“Do you want to go to MIT?” Oliver asks her suddenly. “Is there anything you want to study there? Anything else you want to do with your life besides skating?” 

“Computers,” Felicity replies at once. “Computers are my escape when skating gets too much. I’ve dabbled in programming and part of me feels like there’s a whole new world out there I haven’t explored because of figure skating.” 

“You should tell Waller to go skate into a wall and reapply for MIT,” Oliver says. “You are one of the greatest skaters of this generation. You delivered one of the most difficult programs of all time and made history. Nothing, no one, can ever take that away from you.” 

Impulsively he picks up her hand and threads his fingers through hers. Felicity glances at their hands and raises an eyebrow but doesn’t say anything. Neither does she pull her hand away. 

“Thank your for the pep talk Mr. Queen. I hope I am just as comforting as you are if you ever need my support.” She smiles and slowly extracts her hand, her face now a bright crimson as the awkwardness starts to set in.

Her crazy schedule meant that the only boys she’d ever chatted to were her training mates, also under the tutelage of Amanda. It suddenly dawned on her that she was out sharing a meal and sort of holding hands with a grown man. Oliver Queen who dated more models than the amount of times she fell trying to land her quad toeloop. 

“Look I know it’s scary, leaving something you love and excel at. But maybe this is a start of a whole new chapter for you.” He doesn’t know why he keeps pushing her into this. If the MIT thing is serious it would mean that she’d leave. No more morning practices. No more watching mesmerised as she spun around like a sunbeam dancing on ice.

“Sometimes I think I stay and keep at it with Amanda because it’s the devil I know,” Felicity confesses. “I fear so many things. I fear being labeled a one hit wonder, I fear losing, being stagnant and falling behind on technical content. I stay despite being plagued with doubt and yet I don’t leave because I don’t know who I am if I don’t compete. I’m scared of Amanda Waller. My fans think I’m fearless on ice but I feel like such a coward.” 

Felicity’s shoulders are slumped and she’s looking so small and beaten Oliver simply can’t help himself. He grabs both of her hands and squeezes them, looking her in the eye earnestly.

“You’re young, you’ve had this unnatural upbringing in a vacuum. I know what it’s like to be a professional athlete Felicity but I’ve always been able to live life, to make stupid mistakes and for the most part I’ve gotten away with some crazy shit. No one has ever held me to the standards that have been expected from you. You’ve had to be perfect in this perfect little bubble. You’re growing up and you know you can’t stay in this bubble forever. It’s normal to be scared.” 

Impulsively Felicity gets out of her chair and throws her arms around Oliver. He’s completely and utterly surprised by the hug but merely smiles and rubs her back in return.

“Thank you Oliver. I needed this brunch. Needed our talk. Sorry it all got so intense. Bet you didn’t think some crazy girl was going to unburden all her fears on you during brunch.” She looks a little sheepish as she tries to pull away from the hug, however Oliver holds onto her and hugs her back this time. 

“You never have to thank me. I will always listen to anything you have to say.” 

“My hero,” Felicity swoons exaggeratedly as she extracts herself from him. She’s blushing profusely but there is a huge smile on her face. 

“Want to start facing your fear of Amanda Waller by ditching training to go see a movie with me?” Oliver asks, holding out a hand, giving her his best coaxing but completely sincere smile. 

“She’s going to blow her top,” Felicity chuckles nervously. She does however take his outstretched hand, “Oh the yelling.” 

“Turn off your phone,” Oliver urges her with a rogue smile. 

“I can hack into her phone to make it play porcupine fart noises every time she dials me. I know how to do that.” 

“See I’m corrupting you already.” 

Amidst all the giggles they pause and gaze at each other, both suddenly feeling a little breathless and giddy at the same time despite neither having done any laps on the ice. 

Wordlessly Oliver moves closer to Felicity’s side and drapes a hand over her shoulder. His nose brushes the top of her head ever so softly as she smiles at him and together they walk out of Big Belly Burger. 

Felicity Smoak had conquered the Olympics and Figure Skating. She was set to conquer life next and this time she wasn’t going to do it alone. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soooo....The World Championships were excellent! Some very inspiring performances which sent me on another figure skating tizzy.
> 
> Plus the response from you guys was the sweetest!!! So many of you wanted another chapter and I am so appreciative of all your kudos and comments I clocked up another chapter just for you!
> 
> *Big huggles*
> 
> Warning: There are some mentions of abuse in this chapter by Waller towards Felicity. Just thought I'd add that to give everyone a heads up.

“How many revolutions did you do Felicity? How many revolutions did I ask you to do?” Waller demands sharply as Felicity skates to the boards. There was a sneer in her voice, complete with her trademark look of disgust.

“That’s right I asked you to do eight. EIGHT Felicity. How many did you do?”

“Seven and a half,” Felicity sighs.

“That’s right. SEVEN AND A HALF IS NOT EIGHT FELICITY,” Waller barks at her. 

The World Championships in Saitama, Japan were beginning in a month and to say her preparation for them was going badly was an understatement. Actually the practice formula pretty much played out the same way, every single day. Felicity would start off reasonably well until Waller showed up to demand she run through her short and long programs half a dozen times more. At this juncture Felicity’s body feels like it’s breaking down and that’s when her jumps begin to fail her. 

And it’s not just the quads she’s attempting either. Her trade mark LutzLoop is crumbling more often than she was comfortable with these days. 

Rika Kihira, Japan’s great new skating prodigy with 3 triple axels had beaten Felicity at the Grand Prix final earlier in the season and was now breathing down her neck. Felicity knew she had to be perfect technically to have any chance against Rika who was quite the jumping bean and (if Felicity were to be honest) had superior skating and presentation skills. 

It was a case of _may the best woman win_ on the day and whether she won or lost, all Felicity felt like she wanted at this point was to deliver a clean program. 

Waller’s mouth is still moving and Felicity can’t quite hear her words despite being sure that the other woman was probably quite loudly berating her. She spots Oliver in the stands waving at her with a shy and somewhat goofy smile on his face. 

Felicity grins at him and waves back, all her frustration and irritation dissipating as she remembers he’s there to take her to meet his sister and mother, something that sounded way more dramatic and serious than it really was. 

According to Oliver his mom and sister were huge fans of figure skating and huge fans (the words crazy, loopy and embarrassing may have been used) of Felicity.

Thea Queen, Oliver’s sister had apparently been badgering him for months to arrange a meeting and Oliver finally relented. Felicity smiles an amused smile to herself as she recalls how traumatised Oliver looked when he had gingerly approached her about this. Apparently he would rather have all his teeth removed twice than set his mom and sister on Felicity. 

Felicity who was used to, and very grateful for, each and every one of her adoring fans had tried to reassure him that no amount of enthusiasm from his family could perturb her. She was used to larger than life fans. It was the one aspect she didn’t mind and a nice solace from the terror that was Waller. 

“Are you listening to me Felicity?” Waller snaps when she realizes that Felicity is smiling at that pretty boy she’d taken to skipping off with. If there was one thing Amanda Waller intended to nip to the bud next season it was Felicity’s friendship with that play boy hockey player. Relationships of any kind were a distraction and Felicity had no business running around with men like Oliver Queen if she wanted to remain at the top of her game. 

“Felicity I want you to do another run through. And I want you to keep doing them until you’re clean. One full routine, any mistakes and you start again until you are completely clean.” 

“I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve done it today already Amanda. I just feel like I’m getting worse the longer I keep at it today. Can we try again tomorrow?” Felicity asks in a calm, even voice. She just needed to get through Worlds. That was what she kept telling herself. She’d grown a lot as a person in the last few months and with Oliver’s help; Felicity had finally come to realize there was another way through this. A different way to balance her love of skating and the life that she hadn’t begun to live yet. 

Felicity didn’t intend to say anything to Waller until after Worlds. There was no need to light a match while she still had to work with the woman. 

“You’re getting lazier and lazier by the day. Are you intending to quit skating or be obsolete,” Waller sneers at her. 

“Neither,” Felicity tells her softly. “I promised to meet up with my friend today and he’s waiting so I’m going to head off now. I have done so many run throughs and the first few sets were clean. I’ll see you tomorrow Amanda.”

Waller gapes at her opened mouth as Felicity skates to the rink entrance and grabs her skate guards, taking deep calming breaths while she does this. She was doing well. Composedly standing her ground with Waller. Felicity noted she was going to have to walk past Waller to collect her gear and plush panda but she could do this. She was not the small and frightened thirteen year old who Waller dragged around on ice after too many falls during practice anymore. She was a grown woman and if she was to have any chance at surviving in life she had to first learn to deal with Waller. 

“You’re lazy. That’s what you are. I foresee this is going to be the end for you. You can’t even jump properly. You can kiss those quads goodbye even before you land any in competition,” Waller berates her. 

Felicity pauses and lets out a high pitch laugh. How could she have been so blind all this time? She felt a pang of embarrassment as she remembers numerous press conferences way back when she had been drinking the Waller Ice Skating School kool aid. She’d cheerily told the press that Waller used a carrot and stick method to motivate her and that it was done out of love. 

Carrot and stick. For so many years Felicity had believed she deserved the stick, that all the yelling, spiteful criticism and intimidation was done out of love to make her a better skater, a better athlete.

“Control yourself and don’t you speak to Felicity like that again. When you speak to her like that it says volumes about who you are as a person.” Oliver’s menacing voice pulls Felicity out of her thoughts and causes her to jump. She looks up and the adoring face she’s greeted with is in complete contrast to the words she’d heard flung at Waller. 

Oliver is walking towards her with her bag and Mr Poots the Panda in tow, a gentle, sweet smile on his face. 

“Hi,” he says softly. “You alright?”

Before Felicity has the chance to respond, his free hand is on her shoulder giving it a gentle squeeze. 

“Believe it or not I am,” she beams at him and together they walk out of the rink ignoring Waller’s vicious glares. 

*** 

“Felicity, Felicity Smoak,” Thea coos enthusiastically before looking like she’s about to pass out.

“I love you,” she confesses to Felicity with a smitten look on her face much to Oliver’s bewilderment. 

She was also carrying flowers. Why the hell was she carrying flowers to meet his friend? He knew Thea was a fan girl but he had expected her to control herself somewhat in front of Felicity. Thea was renowned for being the high school queen bee and yet here she was looking like she was walking a fine line between screaming declarations of love to Felicity and passing out. 

“Felicity,” his mom also beams at them looking a little ruffled causing Oliver to cluck in annoyance. He would never have agreed to this if he knew Thea and his mother were going to completely lose their marbles. He had had faith that they would be able to act somewhat normal. 

After so many months of being friends and feeling like they should be more than friends this was not how he wanted her first meeting with his family to play out. 

“Hi Mrs. Queen, Thea,” Felicity nods at both of them with a huge smile on her face. “It’s lovely to meet you.” 

She was used to fans losing a bit of composure when they met her and didn’t mind it one bit. After dealing with so much hate post Olympics, Felicity truly appreciated each and every fan who took the time to express their love for her work and welcomed their enthusiasm. 

“This is for you,” Thea shoves a giant leather bound photo album into Felicity’s arms as well as the bunch of flowers. 

“It’s a photo album I made outlining the most important moments of your career since you were eight,” Thea coos, looking proud of herself. 

“Speedy why would she want an album of pictures of herself and don’t you think it’s almost stalkerish to dig around for old photos of Felicity,” Oliver huffs in frustration. 

“You were singing a different tune when you told me to show you every single clip of her tournament skates,” Thea challenges her brother back. She may be star struck with Felicity but Ollie was still only old Ollie and she wasn’t going to take any crap from him. Especially not in front of her idol. 

“These are for you Felicity,” Moira interrupts her children’s’ squabbling and hands Felicity a small pink velvet jewellery box.

“Just some earrings Thea and I picked out for you from our family vault. We notice you liked to wear all sorts of different earrings during your time off ice so we specifically wanted you to have these. Hopefully you’ll like them and think of us when you wear them.” Moira smiles at Felicity and pushes the box into her hands.

“Are you two serious? Earrings to remember you by? You two promised you’d act normal and now you’re trying to make her wear your earrings?” 

Oliver looks like he wants to slink down very small and vanish through the micro fibres of the restaurant carpet. He shoots Felicity an apologetic look and begins to rub her back to console her for his family’s peculiar behavior.

Felicity gives his arm a pat and a smile as if to say “Relax.” 

“Thank you so much Mrs. Queen,” she turns to address the older woman. “I’m so grateful and touched by your generosity but I really can’t take something that belongs to your family.” 

Felicity holds out the box in an attempt to give them back. 

“Thea and I spent hours down in the family vault searching for these Felicity. It would mean so much to us if you kept them. We’d be hurt if you won’t accept them from us after we spent all that time selecting them,” Moira replies warmly but firmly as she pushes the box back to Felicity.

“You cannot seriously be forcing jewellery on her,” Oliver throws his hands in the air. “Mom I expect this from Speedy but you of all people?” 

Quickly Felicity grabs his forearm and strokes it, soothing his tense muscles. It is not lost on Moira Queen that her son visibly relaxes upon Felicity’s touch while the latter seems to intuitively know how to coax a smile out of her son.

“If it means so much to you I will accept them. Thank you so much Mrs Queen and Thea.” She smiles brightly at Thea and Moira Queen from across the table before adding, “It is a documented fact that I love a good pair of earrings more than the anyone.”

“Well now that that’s settled can you put them on and take a selfie with us,” Thea asks hopefully, rubbing her hands together in delight.

“Of course,” Felicity chuckles, holding onto Oliver’s arm to prevent another outburst from him. 

*** 

“I’m sorry you had to go through that. I knew Speedy was a super fan but I thought she’d at least try to act cool. My mom normally doesn’t carry herself like that either. It’s the first time in my life I’ve seen her act like that.” 

Having his fair share of fans and admirers from the general public, Oliver was used to seeing people trip over themselves when they meet him. He certainly wasn’t used to seeing his mother and sister behave in the same way. Still Felicity took it all in stride and handled them like the champion that she was. 

Speedy and his mom had left their dinner looking somewhat dazed and practically bursting out of their skins in excitement. He wondered what Felicity had promised them in the time he stepped outside to take a call from his manager.

“Don’t be,” Felicity assures him. “They were very nice. Plus now we know they definitely like me so you don’t have to worry about your family hating your friend.” 

There is added weight to the word friend but she’s smiling at him. Oliver resists the urge to lean into her, despite the fact that they were sitting a lot closer than they should be on his couch. Felicity had taken to crashing at his place a few times a week. This way he could cook for them both before they went to the rink together in the early mornings. 

“Friends,” Oliver echoes inching a little closer. 

“Yup friends,” Felicity says, her innocent blue eyes looking at him questioningly. 

Oliver swallows and closes his eyes. It would be so easy to just lean in and kiss her. He doesn’t think Felicity would protest. He wants to so desperately but the part of him that has grown up into a more decent and mature human being holds him back. 

Felicity wasn’t someone for him to have a casual fling with but more importantly Oliver knew Felicity wasn’t even someone he should try to pursue a serious relationship with. At least not right now.

Felicity was young, inexperienced and had devoted most of her life to figure skating. She was on the cusp of freeing herself from Waller and Oliver didn’t want to bind her down with him. She deserved every chance to find out who she was, what she wanted. This meant that for her sake, Oliver had to be unselfish and not give into what he wants.

“What did you promise Speedy and my mom?” Oliver asks, because nothing dissolves magic like bringing up his fan girl mother and sister. 

“I promised them I’d try to get them each a spot at the post Worlds banquet. They’ll get to meet all the other skaters. Yuzuru, Shoma, Jun, Rika, Bradie. Needless to say they are a little bit thrilled by the prospect and I think they couldn’t get away from dinner fast enough for fear that I’d change my mind or go back on my word.” 

Felicity answers him in a calm, collected tone with a smile on her face despite the fleeting look of disappointment that vanishes as quickly as Oliver spots it. Whatever it was between them, whatever unspoken and unresolved feelings that lingered in the air, he couldn’t let it hurt her chances at Worlds. It was too important. 

“I’m coming to Worlds,” he blurts out, wanting to comfort her but not knowing what to say given the situation they are in. “I know mom and Thea are going to go and fangirl over you but I’m coming too.”

“Umm to support you and fight off Waller if she goes crazy.”

This earns an amused smile from Felicity. 

“I didn’t think figure skating was your thing. I mean I really appreciate your friendship and all the endless support you’ve given me but I didn’t expect you to fly to Saitama as well.” 

“I would fly anywhere, to any competition to see you if you asked Felicity.” He’s aware that he’s gazing at her stupidly right now but he needed to know that she understood this and that it was a given in their relationship. 

“Oh I don’t think coach Diggle will be pleased if you had a game on that night,” Felicity teases him. 

“Unless it’s on at exactly the same time I’ll take the jet. I’m serious Felicity. Anytime you need me, not matter when or where I’ll be there.” 

The atmosphere between them is altogether too charged and intense but Oliver doesn’t care. He needs her to know how important she is to him. 

“Those sound like they should be song lyrics,” Felicity quips back. 

Suddenly she launches herself at him and hugs him tightly. “It means everything to me though. Thank you.” 

Oliver smiles and hugs her back. 

“MIT were happy to reinstate the initial scholarship they offered me. I’m going to take it Oliver,” Felicity tells him when they disentangle from their hug. 

“I want to know who I am outside of skating. I still love skating and I honestly believe that I have a few more years left in me yet so I’m going to continue skating as well as my class load from MIT.”

“How do you plan to do that?” Oliver asks her with intrigue. If anyone could do it, it was Felicity. He was mightily impressed that she seemed to have set up everything for herself and knew exactly what she was doing. Once Felicity made a decision, she was extremely efficient in executing it. 

“Remember when I left to go to Central City for a few days last month? I was meeting with Yao Fei Gulong. I told him about my predicament of attending MIT whilst still wanting to pursue skating. The meeting went very well. He’s got a few others whom he also coaches long distance so the plan is for him to take me on and train me via Facetime. One of us will fly to the other when I need some face to face coaching.” 

Felicity pauses and takes a deep breath. A mixture of relief and confidence is written all over her face as she continues, “I questioned the technique of my jumps after I grew and started falling but I got my jumps back and am about 50/50 with my quads. I think these days when I fall; the issue is psychological rather than a technique issue. I’m going to tell Waller after Worlds. I’ve arranged it all and I will tell her quietly after my skate at Worlds no matter what the result is. Then I’ll announce it at the Worlds post skate press conference.” 

Oliver doesn’t say anything in response but he hopes she knows what he’s thinking and how proud he is of her from the besotted smile he’s giving her. Just as he was always telling her, Felicity was remarkable.

“I can do this right? Balance elite skating and school? I took a long hard look at myself and realized I have no means to earn a living when this is all over. Sure there’s ice shows but figure skating is on the decline in the US and I don’t want to be living out of my suitcase doing shows overseas for the rest of my life. Plus I can’t jump forever. What if I get injured? Or when my endorsements end which they will inevitably when I retire. I’ve never had anything besides figure skating Oliver. I tinkered with computers and do a bit of illicit hacking to indulge my rebellious side but I just feel like there is so much more I could learn. You don’t think I’m crazy right?”

She’s looking a little frantic now, having worked herself up in one of her rants like she often does. Oliver places a hand on her shoulder and Felicity pauses, her gaze settling on his face. 

“You are sooooo smart. And soooo talented. I think you are doing all the right things. Setting up for the future and giving yourself a chance to see what else life has to offer. I’m not going to lie and say that it will be easy but you will conquer it Felicity because you’re Felicity Smoak, Olympic Champion and you can do anything you put your mind to.”

Oliver’s hand slides down from her shoulders as he takes her small hand into his. 

“You are going to make it on your own. But you’ll always have me if you need back up ok? I promise you I’m going to be there no matter what.” 

“Always?” she asks him quietly her eyes not leaving his. 

“Always.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I may or may not be adding anymore to this but I have ended on a happy note so you can imagine any lovely Happily Ever After that you like!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Halloooooooo
> 
> Are you excited for the next chapter? Because I am!!!! Honestly I REALLY hope you guys like it because I quite liked this chapter myself! *puffs chest proudly*
> 
> Ok so I couldn't resist adding more to this!
> 
> I have it all worked out! Next chapter will be the last chapter and will round off this story.

“OMG did you see that?” Thea shrieks causing Oliver to jump and glare at her crossly.

“Speedy we are going to get thrown out if you do not shut up. Stop yelping. And can you not wave randomly at Felicity. She hasn’t got time for your nonsense.”

Oliver was seriously regretting his decision to ask Thea about Felicity. He imagined sitting in the arena watching Felicity practice in peace, smiling at her dotingly without anyone needling him about it, maybe just holding her jacket and handing her a tissue if she needed one.

Certainly he’d be having a much more enjoyable experience at this first figure skating tournament than the current state he was in right now with his manic little sister in tow. Fortunately today he only had Thea to contend with. Moira was stuck in a phone conference for pretty much the entire day, which meant she couldn’t watch practice with them. Although part of Oliver wondered if it would be easier to have his mother here, one more person to help manage Thea and her tendency to have excited outbursts. Watching Words live and actually knowing her favourite skater was proving to be too much for Thea.  

“Felicity just did a triple lutz, triple loop, triple loop, triple loop,” Thea informs him like it’s meant to be something of a huge revelation.

“Yeah she jumps a lot. She didn’t fall. She hasn’t fallen since practice sessions started so I don’t know why you’re so worked up about this Speedy.”

“She hasn’t done a lutz and multiple loop combo since she was 16 while she practiced for her free program at the Olympics Ollie! And she did it today! She must be feeling spry. Oooh she’s going to nail her Carmen. I can feel it. I have always felt that it has way too many transitions but that’s Slade for you. Can’t choreograph his way out of a paper bag. Full of transitions and tricks. Felicity is such a strong and beautiful skater if they’ll let her hold some of her positions for longer.”

“Isn’t that loop jump bad for her hips. I did some reading and apparently it is bad for hips,” Oliver says peering at Felicity with concern written all over his face like he was one step from marching over and carrying her off the ice to mind her hips.

Felicity notices him looking at her, grins at him broadly and does a series of spins. She knew he enjoyed watching her spin and suspected that he admired the way she could contort her body into the most impressive positions.

“Oh Ollie stop it with the fretful gallant hero act. You’ve had a few pucks hit your head. Does Felicity cluck about you?” Thea asks scornfully. 

“She does actually,” Oliver responds with a dopey grin on his face as he recalls the time she watched one of his practices and then fussed over him incessantly afterwards, much to the awe and jealousy of his team mates who all knew who she was. Everybody loves a blonde and bubbly ice princess and she was his. Well his friend. Best friend. Girl friend. As in she was his girl. He shakes his head to stop the convoluted train of thought. 

Thea doesn’t say anything but merely gives him a disdainful look just as Felicity skates up to the boards where they are sitting.

“Where is Waller?” Oliver asks glancing around with his chest puffed out like he was ready for a fight.

Thea rolls her eyes at him before switching expressions quickly to beam at Felicity.

“She doesn’t attend these practice sessions that are open to the public. Too many people watching so she has no freedom to yell at me. Plus I think she’s trying to teach me a lesson by not making herself readily available for this, the biggest competition of the year because she thinks that will make me crumble and be more subservient next season.”

Felicity relays her thoughts with a smile and shrug. Funny how even a year ago Waller’s mind games would have sent her scurrying in a panic. Now she felt like she was looking at everything with a pair of fresh eyes. It was as if she had lived in a haze for the last 6 years.

She was oddly detached from this entire experience and was incredibly numb about her situation with Waller. There was only a morbid curiosity as to whether Waller would sit next to her during Kiss and Cry or just send Slade. Felicity didn’t mind Slade too much in all honesty. She disliked the frantic routines he choreographed and felt they made her skating more frenetic than it should be but he’d always been more stone faced and strict, rather than play the psychological warfare games Waller so enjoyed. 

“Are you going to be ok?” Oliver asks softly in a voice Felicity notices he only reserves for her.

“I’m going to be better than ok,” Felicity assures him. “My music is coming on. I have to do a full run through. I’ll catch up with you guys later.” 

She waves at them and skates away as the first few notes of Carmen begin to broadcast over the arena. 

*** 

“GOOD LUCK BABY GIRL,” Donna’s cheerful voice squeals at her enthusiastically and shrilly from the tiny iPad speakers.

“Thanks Mom,” Felicity says smiling calmly. She’s realized over the years the importance of keeping her composure around her mom. 

“Is that terrible woman going to sit with you tomorrow while looking like she wants to skin you alive?” Donna asks when she’s finished cheering her daughter on. 

If there was one regret Donna Smoak had in life, it was sending her baby away to Amanda Waller. Back then Felicity had been so determined, so driven to pursue her dream and Donna who didn’t have quite the tools to deal with her skating prodigy and genius had hastily agreed to entrust Felicity’s coaching to Amanda Waller.

It was only after Felicity won gold at the Olympics and through the press conferences that followed did Donna come to realize what life was like for her daughter under the Waller regime. By then it was too late. Felicity with her determination and tenacity had insisted on staying with Waller, citing that to attain greatness one had to endure hardships no matter what they were. 

Felicity’s words haunted Donna for many years but nothing she said or did could convince her daughter to leave Waller or figure skating. She was also mindful to tread carefully. After so many years Donna came to realize that she and Felicity were worlds apart in temperament and ambition. Donna telling Felicity she was already a gold medalist, that she had achieved enough, only caused her daughter to become more frustrated and angry. What Felicity wanted was not for someone to talk up her achievements. She wanted someone to help her win. 

With this in mind Donna held her peace, only offering encouragement. However that all changed one day when Felicity informed her she’d made a new friend. The much older, way too handsome and worldly Oliver Queen. Donna had been worried at first and flew over to nonchalantly gauge the situation. What she found was a man hopelessly besotted with her daughter who looked like he was ready to kiss any ground that Felicity walked on. 

Feeling more at ease about her daughter than she’d ever been in six years, Donna flew back to Vegas without anymore concerns. Felicity was growing up and she was finally living and flourishing.

“No. She coldly informed me she was sending Slade. I prefer it that way to be honest. I’ll just try to find a quiet place to tell her what I have to tell her afterwards.”

“Does she suspect anything?”

“No she thinks I’m just playing a game of chicken with her and she’s waiting for me to blink. I may have gotten a bit rebellious in recent months but I’ve no doubt she thinks it’s only a phase and is waiting for me to apologize for my misdeeds over the past months.” Felicity has a mischievous and somewhat satisfied smile on her face. 

Donna lets out an inelegant snort. Only the mention of Waller could elicit a snort from her ever. “I hope you win whatever it is you want to win baby girl.” 

“It’s the World Championships mom and I just want to skate a clean routine. Rika is going to be hard to beat if she lands all three tripe axels. Beating those triple axels will be a story for next season.” 

At this point her mother is smiling at her blankly not quite knowing what is going on. 

“I love you Mom,” Felicity says with a fond smile. “I’ll call you when it’s all over.” 

“Good luck baby girl. Hope you land all those triple axels.” 

“Rika is the one who has triple axels mom, I don’t jump a triple axel. You can’t just jump a triple axel whenever you feel like it. It takes a lot of training,” Felicity begins to remind Donna but changes her mind half way. “Never mind I know what you mean. I love you Mom.” 

*** 

“I’m going to be sick,” Thea groans clutching her stomach dramatically. “I think I’m going to throw up.” 

“What now?” Oliver huffs with annoyance. “You were fine five minutes ago.” 

They were in the stands waiting for Felicity to start. Thea to Oliver’s annoyance had brought a giant poster of Felicity complete with rhinestone stickers and glitter. Every time she cheered and waved the stupid poster about, glitter sprinkled all over them. His mother who was sitting on the other side of Thea didn’t seem to mind and accepted this as all part and parcel of the live figure skating experience. Oliver however had no patience for such nonsense, especially when he was nervous and feeling on edge about Felicity who was due to skate next.

“I think I need to leave the arena. I can’t watch live. I’m going to jinx her. I’m going to leave the arena,” Thea declares dramatically trying to get up. 

Oliver shoots Moira a vexed look to which the latter responds by gripping Thea firmly on the arm and holding her down. 

“Thea we have flown halfway across the world to watch this event. You will remain in the arena, you will watch and you will cheer. As for jinxing you are simply not special enough to be jinxing anyone darling.” 

Moira turns and gives her daughter a stern smile as if to ensure that she has made her expectations exceedingly clear. To Oliver’s relief his mother’s speech manages to deter Thea from engaging in whatever dramatics she has planned. She sit up straight, grins broadly and waves the nuisance poster around once more, sending another shower of glitter over Oliver who doesn’t say anything but settles for glaring at her instead. 

Within moments the voice of the cheerful announcer comes on and Felicity skates out on ice, looking dazzling in her free program costume.

Oliver holds his breath as the first few bars of Carmen begin to play. 

*** 

“Well done on the clean skate kid,” Slade says as he hands Felicity her skate guards, jacket and Mr Poots. “Lutzloop right on the beat. Good entrance into your double axel.”

Slade was all business all the time. He did not have time for frills or affection and Felicity was used to it by now. He didn’t seem displeased which was interesting considering the fact that she was unlikely to win. 

“It won’t be enough to beat Rika,” Felicity answers matter of factly. “I saw her scores. Those two triple axels she landed were beautiful. I’m lagging too far in my technical score, all the PCS compensation in the world will not make up the gap.”

They headed towards the Kiss and Cry area and proceeded to wave to the cameras. Well Felicity waved to the camera and blew kisses to Thea who she knew would likely be jumping up and down right now, screaming in Oliver’s ear. Slade was scowling and looking tense, as he always did whenever he had to sit during Kiss and Cry. Felicity bit back a smile as she recalled some of the nicknames the press have given them over the years, the most notable one being Rapunzel, Mother Gothel and Hook.   

Felicity smiles and waves some more as they wait for her scores while trying to process the flood of conflicting emotions that inundated her brain. There was the sadness in knowing she didn’t win, understanding why she didn’t win but at the same time there was also a peaceful acceptance of the situation as well. She had gone into the competition knowing that based on her current skill level to win she needed help from Rika in the form of a few mistakes. Rika however finally lived up to her brilliant potential tonight and delivered a spotless free skate.

Felicity had skated after, knowing in the back of her mind that her very best may well not be enough. She finally understood how Iris must have felt during their Olympics year. To know that your best was simply not good enough because someone had pushed the sport further and had a harder skill set was a tough pill to swallow. And yet instead of despair she felt the fire deep inside her burn even brighter. How far could she, Felicity Smoak push the sport forward next season with her quads? What else was in store for her at MIT besides skating? There were so many possibilities in this vast wide world, earning a silver medal at Worlds wasn’t the final chapter in her story. 

The scores come up confirming that she was indeed a silver medalist. Felicity smiles brighter when she realizes it was her seasons best score. She had done all she could. 

“Best of luck with your new coach kid. Those quads are almost there. I’ll be curious to see what heights you reach. Don’t give up too many transitions in your new programs next season though.” Slade’s voice is gruff however there is a softness in his expression which surprises Felicity. He really did wish her well.

“How…how did you know?” Felicity asks him curiously, both of them knowing exactly what he was referring to.

“When she raged about you walking off with that boy I knew it was the beginning of the end. Then when she played her usual game of chicken about Kiss and Cry you didn’t fold. You didn’t care at all. I’ve known you since you were thirteen years old kid. You’re not the thirteen year old we took in anymore.” 

“Thank you for everything. No matter what we did achieve a lot together and I learnt everything I knew from the two of you.” Felicity nods at him and holds out her hand. To her surprise she realizes that she meant what she said. Regardless of how hard the last six years had been, their packaging of her, combined with her skill set had earned her an Olympic Gold Medal.

“Do you want me to tell her?” Slade asks brusquely as he shakes her hand. 

“No I will tell her myself. I owe her that much.” 

***

“You came second. Clean skate but you came second. Do you realize that you haven’t won anything all year Felicity? You’ve lost to Kihira when she’s clean; you lost when she made mistakes because you also choked. Of course it doesn’t have to be this way if you work harder next season.”

Here in this small dressing room, as they waited for her post skate press conference these were the first words Amanda Waller had uttered to her. There was no hello, now words of congratulations, no words of comfort. Felicity felt almost mortified that for a time on her life, she lived for this woman’s approval, always hoping to be good enough. 

There were memes about her on the Internet with pictures of Waller glaring at her in disdain labeled “When you win the gold medal but Mommy loves your sister more.” 

She had been so blind. Young and blind she consoles herself.

“I won’t be returning next season. I’ve accepted a scholarship at MIT and made new coaching arrangements. I will be announcing it at the press conference in a few minutes. I wanted you to hear it from me first. Thank you for everything you have taught me in the past six years.”

“You don’t know how to work hard without me,” Waller spits at her, coldly seething with rage. “You will never make it to the next Olympics. You’re not sixteen anymore. Those jumps don’t come so easily anymore do they Felicity?” 

“I certainly won’t miss the press conferences where you sit there and tell people how talentless I am. That the only reason I win is because you make me work hard,” Felicity laughs scornfully as she eyes the shriveled, bitter looking woman standing before her. Standing before her was Waller in her true form. An angry, manipulative woman who was incapable of happiness and couldn’t stand to see it in others. 

“I will do just fine without you. The one thing you did do Amanda, you taught me to be as tough as nails, to be able to endure anything. I’m going to take that and see how far I can fly. My lawyers will contact you to make final arrangements.” Felicity glances one last time at the woman who had taught and tormented her for so many years before turning her back to leave.

***

_“As of today my coaching arrangements have changed. I will be attending MIT next season and collaborating with Coach Fei who will oversee my training for next season. It’s a very exciting time and I am looking forward to both college and working with the formidable Coach Fei whom I expect to learn a lot from._

_I would like to take this opportunity to thank my previous coaching team who has guided me since I was thirteen years old. It has been a grueling six years but a lot was achieved in those six years and valuable lessons were learnt which I will carry with me for the rest of my life._

_I am excited for what the future holds and look forward to growing and improving next season both as a person and as a skater.”_

_Teenage figure skating sensation Felicity Smoak released the following statement after earning a silver medal at the World Championships. Smoak delivered a phenomenal free program that ultimately fell just short in comparison to Rika Kihira who dominated with her two triple axels._

_Smoak who was seen warmly embracing Kihira during the medal ceremony dropped a bombshell on the skating world when she announced abruptly that she was leaving longtime coaching team Amanda Waller and Slade Wilson for Yao Fei and to pursue college, making use of that rumored 170 IQ._

_Often dubbed Rapunzel and Mother Gothel by fans and media, rumours have swirled around for years in regards to Waller’s treatment of Smoak and today’s press conference all but confirms that there is definitely some truth to those stories we’ve heard over the years._  

Felicity switches off the TV with a quick snap of her wrist and sighs. Despite it being a few days since the announcement, all the sports channels had decided to run this news (plus assorted footage of her looking like a poor downtrodden princess and Waller in all her great aggressive glory) whenever they had a free timeslot.

After spending hours fielding questions from one journalist after another at the Worlds banquet while deftly trying to avoid Waller, Felicity and Oliver had snuck out so that Felicity could seek solace in her hotel room. 

Oliver had sent Thea a quick text to tell her they left first. Moira and Thea were having a sensational time accosting and rubbing shoulders with the likes of Yuzuru Hanyu, Nathan Chen and Rika Kihira. Thea, although loyal to Felicity, found it hard to resist the pull of breathing the same air as some of the biggest names in figure skating. 

Oliver was glad his family was occupied. It saved them from asking curly questions about why he was hanging out late in Felicity’s hotel room at night. 

“It will blow over,” Oliver says reaching for Felicity’s left shoulder, intuitively knowing exactly what was bothering her. It was so strange how a disagreement on ice one morning had transformed into…this. Whatever this was. She hadn’t taken him to task on it yet.

“My agent would say all publicity is good publicity, especially for sponsorship,” Felicity sighs once again. Her agent was right though. It had only been a few days but the phones were ringing off the hooks with more sponsors making enquiries than she could ever dream of. If anything it made all her past fears of leaving Waller seem even more foolish. She should have done this a long time ago. But then it was equally valid to argue she simply hadn’t reach this place of self confidence yet. She hadn’t met Oliver. 

“I didn’t want it to end this way you know,” Felicity says sadly, suddenly looking very small and frail, unlike the fiery competitor she was on nice. Oliver could not help but envelope her in his arms. 

“When I first started at Waller’s school I always hoped that she would grow fond of me overtime. I’d always envied Kaetlyn Osmond’s relationship with her coach. He was so kind to her. I told myself that he’d been coaching Kaetlyn since she was ten and that one-day; Waller would warm to me to. But that day never came. I feel so stupid Oliver. Like all that hope was for nothing. I brought into her propaganda, let her belittle my achievements and yet I still wanted her to like me for some unexplainable reason.” 

As Felicity gazes at him with tears pooling in her eyes, Oliver tightens his grip around her, banding one arm around her waist.

“You had hope. Who could blame you for that? And to work in that environment you had to have hope, you had to look for the best in the situation. Even if that meant looking for any good in a witch like Waller. You should never blame yourself for that. You should be proud of all the things you accomplished and how strong you are to come out on the other side.” He noses the top of her head, breathing in the scent of her hair. 

“And now you’re going to college, you’ve got a new coach and you’re going to throw down with those quads next season.” 

Felicity blinks the stray tears away. She could hear the pride in Oliver’s voice and feel him smiling into her hair. 

Slowly she untangles herself from him, sits up straight and smiles a big bright smile at him. 

“Speaking of college, are you going to miss me?” she asks pinning him down with her gaze.

“I will but I’ll be down there to visit you every spare moment I have.”

Suddenly Oliver feels like he’s walking a tightrope and trying to balance oh so carefully despite part of him just wanting to let go and be free, knowing that he’ll just bounce off the safety net down below.

“Every spare moment you have?” Felicity tilts her head to one side and shots him an incredulous look. 

“Yes, of course every spare moment I have. Why is that so hard to believe? You are so important to me Felicity. You’ll always be my girl. I have to see you every week.” 

Felicity feels the urge to snort at his response but resists the temptation. Instead she smiles at him again and asks, “Promise?”

“Promise,” Oliver responds earnestly with much enthusiasm.

“Wouldn’t that put a huge dampener on your love life if you’re scurrying down every week to see your friend. Me. A girl.”

She’s practically in his face now as she watches him with an amused expression on her face.

“I don’t need a love life. I would much rather spend all my free time with you.” He’s well aware of how ridiculous it sounds but he feels like he’s backed into a corner with no way out, so all he can do is simply stand his ground, no matter how stupid the words coming out of his mouth were. 

He was crazy about her. He had fortunately reached a place where he was smart and secure enough to admit it to himself. But he was not going to let that take away from Felicity’s new found freedom.

“So let me get this straight, you, Oliver Queen, big shot professional ice hockey player with groupies, are going to live the life of a monk so you can visit me in Boston every week?”

She’s tapping her foot and watching him with one eyebrow raised. Damn, her new found self confidence was landing him in some hot water.

“You say that like it’s a bad thing,” he protests stupidly. 

“Oliver I may be inexperienced but even I know something is amiss here. Are we really going to pretend this is all very normal or are you going to tell me what’s going on?” 

She gazes up at him, cheeks pink, a little pout forming on her pink lips. Sometimes he thinks she’s got scope to be a lot more wicked than she looks. At the very least she knows just how smitten he is with her and uses it to her advantage.

“I thought that after Worlds, after my announcement things would be different between us. Are we really destined to only be friends, you and me?”

Slowly he takes her hands into his, holding them as if some part of him was desperate to cling onto her despite what he was going to say next. 

“You, Felicity are the most remarkable person I’ve ever met and I want nothing more than to be with you. But for your sake I cannot be with you right now. You have lived most of your teenage life in a carefully constructed bubble. You haven’t experienced the highs, the lows and the joys life has to offer. I can’t let you move from Waller’s prison into mine. Sure I worship the ground you walk on but it would still be a gilded cage. You’d move from one all encompassing world to another. You need to be free, to live and experience life without being tethered to me. That’s what I’ve always wanted for you ever since we met. And one day if you come back to me, I’ll be here waiting.” 

“Oh so you’re doing this for me? What do you expect me to do Oliver? Go to college, kiss a few boys but don’t commit to anyone seriously because you’ll always be around waiting? Or do you want me to find someone and you’ll be the tragic hero secretly pining after me?”

Felicity pushes his hands away and wraps her arms around herself defensively. She really thought something wonderful would happen after Worlds but now he was feeding her this story she didn’t quite understand.

“No, that’s not what I meant. I just want you to take the time to find out who you are Felicity. I don’t want to be the person to trap you again, to hold you back. I will always be here for you no matter what. Just not in that way. Not now.” 

He tries to reach for her hand again but Felicity pulls away.

“Stop. Stop dangling maybes. Just say it’s never going to happen between us. Say you’ll never love me.” 

She’s on the verge of bursting into tears now as she stands up to turn her back to him so he wouldn’t see her cry. Everything has turned out to be such a disappointment. She was excited for the next stage in her life and she’d always seen Oliver as part of that next adventure. Now he was backing away while making a jumble of promises.

She wanted to believe that despite all his assertions and reasoning, he felt something more than friendship for her however the insecure part of her couldn’t help wallowing in the conclusion that maybe he just didn’t want her that way and this was his way of lying to himself and to her. 

She tries to take a step towards the bedroom door so she could ignore his existence and have a good cry to herself when a pair of strong arms spin her around. In an instant Oliver is towering over her, his hands cupping her face as he kisses her. 

“Don’t ask me to say that I don’t love you.”

The kiss is gentle, sweet. He’s taken her by surprise but at the same time he’s seeking her permission. Felicity kisses him back forcefully with a hint of frustration. Stupid, stubborn man. Oliver melts into her kisses blissfully and lets out a little whine when Felicity pulls away, glaring at him ferociously.

“What does that even mean Oliver? You know what, I can’t deal with this. I can’t and I won’t.”

She makes a move to push him away but he gently wrestles her into submission and kisses her on the forehead. 

“Please don’t be angry with me and try to understand.”

Felicity lets out a frustrated huff but allows him hold her. College, quads and Oliver Queen. These were the things she needed to tackle next season.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Will aim to have final chapter by next weekend at the very latest!


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Halllooo
> 
> As promised the final chapter to this story!
> 
> Well that grew didn't it?
> 
> ***
> 
> Thank you so much for defending me against the disgruntled anon last chapter *big huggles*  
> It means a lot to me! 
> 
> With all the sad Arrow news that we have received this week my blood is up so I may just be very rude to any disgruntled anons in the future =P
> 
> Anyways I hope you enjoy the chapter and thank you for indulging my obsession with figure skating!

“I have frozen 6 portions of chicken and silver beet lasagna. That is sitting on the top shelf of your freezer on the right. The beef lasagna is on the other side. They are all labeled. Your sugar free muesli bars are in the compartment with all the baked goods.”

Oliver has his head in her freezer and is meticulously stacking and restacking things, all while knowing that in a few days (if not just by tomorrow) Felicity was going to have everything haphazardly stashed like a game of Tetris. It never failed to frustrate him how his (well her) pristine freezer was always a jumbled mess no matter how often he attended to it.

He consoled himself in the fact that she at least let him pick out his dream refrigerator for her apartment. Felicity had signed a lucrative new deal with Nike and make up brand Shiseido. She had thrown herself into programming during the off-season and was now also making money on the side anonymously selling simple games on the Apple Store. She could easily afford the near new two-bedroom apartment located three blocks from MIT. 

There was no need to live the dorm life or to contend with dorm mates much to Oliver’s delight. He mostly got Felicity all to himself during his weekly visits and there were no oddball individuals to deal with. 

“Are you planning to go anywhere tonight after you drop me off at the airport? Because if you aren’t I’m going to thaw out this container of beef stew that I made for you. You may as well eat it for dinner. I’m sorry Felicity but I just don’t trust you with my Pyrex. You know how distracted you can be when you’ve got coding on your mind. I can see you rearranging my freezer and my Pyrex crashing to the ground.” 

Oliver casts her a suspicious look before turning his attention to the freezer again. 

Felicity rolls her eyes and marches up to him, yanking him away from the freezer with a huff of annoyance. What business did he have to show up almost every week, fuss over her, cook for her, moon at her with his stupid heart eyes only to kiss her on the forehead at the airport before flying back to Starling again. It was the most aggravating thing and she was beginning to question her sanity for putting up with it. He loved her. That much she was confident about and that was the only reason why she was putting up with his special brand of nonsense. 

Every visit they’d have a conversation where he would casually ask her if she’d met anyone nice only to then stare at her tragically while clenching his fists whenever she showed the slightest bit of interest in another guy. Not that anyone could compare to the ridiculously good looking dumb boof head who was hopelessly devoted to her but Felicity liked to rattle him all the same and sometimes when she was feeling especially vexed by him would drop in an embellished detailed or two just to gauge his reaction. To her credit she always stopped whenever Oliver started to look especially tragic. 

“You’re going to miss your flight,” she grumbles in frustration, pushing him along to her guestroom (aka Oliver’s bedroom whenever he stayed). “Go change your clothes and no I do not need beef stew. I have a date after I drop you off.” 

That had the desired effect all right. Oliver immediately freezes and turns around to gaze at her, tragic heart eyes ablaze. If she weren’t already in love with him she would remove herself from this situation once and for all. She was usually very good at compartmentalising and doing what needed to be done. Unfortunately she was in love with this idiot. This meant she was stuck in this seemingly never-ending dance with him. She could do worse she supposed. Every time she got angry with him for embarking on this unilateral decision about their relationship without any regard for her thoughts or what she wanted, she was pulled back by the fact that he was completely and utterly devoted to her.

In some ways Felicity understood that despite everything Oliver loved to preach about her being free to live her life untethered to him, this was a journey of personal growth for him as much as it was for her. He’d grown from being a thoughtless playboy into a decent human being. And then he’d met Felicity who was many years younger than him and with completely different life experiences. She frightened him. 

It had occurred to Felicity that Oliver probably didn’t quite know how to process or act on his feelings for her and the one thing she could do for him now was give him time.

“It’s a study date,” she adds not having the heart to rattle his chains any further. 

“But one day it might not be,” he gazing at her intently as he strokes one of her curls.

“And whose fault would that be?” Felicity’s voice is soft but there is a steely determination in her gaze. She hadn’t said it in so many words but this was a gentle warning, a nudge to remind him that they couldn’t remain like this forever. 

“I’m turning 20 this year Oliver. I’m thriving at MIT and juggling all my endorsement gigs. Coach Fei thinks I should try for a quad flip in addition to the quad salchow and toeloop, which I can fully rotate now. I have lived and been able to experience more things that many people have ever dreamed of so maybe, just maybe you need to come to terms that I’m not some fragile ice princess, big bad Oliver Queen is going to ruin.” 

Oliver looks like a kicked puppy right now and she hates that she’s the one who has caused it but at the same time there was only so much patience she could exercise with him. 

Having made her point and unable to stand that devastated look on his face any longer, Felicity stands up on her tippy toes to give him a peck on the cheek. 

“Come on, stop looking like someone aimed a puck at your family jewels. I haven’t given up on you yet.” 

Deliberating ignoring the pained expression on his face, Felicity ducks behind Oliver and uses both arms to push him towards her guest room. 

*** 

“So…I’ll see you next week?” Oliver farewells her at the boarding gate, a fond smile on his face as he bids her their usual goodbye.

“I’ve got to take a quick trip to Tokyo next week to shoot a new campaign for Shiseido. I hate to admit it but I am enjoying this modelling gig. They don’t force the cute blonde Disney princess persona on me because it kinda clashes with their products so I love all the looks they chose for me. I’ll call you when I get back?” 

Oliver’s first instinct is to inhale deeply like he’d suddenly been punched in the gut by some invisible force. They’d missed weekends together before but Felicity always gave him plenty of warning in advance. She didn’t mention anything this time. Either didn’t want to or worse, didn’t bother to remember. Whilst she may not have kissed any boys (that he knew of) she was growing and flourishing on her own. Living a successful life that didn’t have to necessarily include him in it. An uncomfortable thought crept into the back of his mind. What if he had made a terrible mistake and ruined everything by not taking his chance to have Felicity grow with him but instead forcing her to evolve on her own.

As if she could read his mind, Felicity offers him a comforting smile before launching up to give him a tight hug.

“I’ll call you when I get back. We’ll see each other as soon as we’re both available,” she reassures him.

Oliver nods silently and hugs her tighter. 

*** 

 _I haven’t given up on you yet._  

Felicity’s words echo over and over again in Oliver’s mind. So much so that he’s barely paying any attention to his friends. Feeling guilty about how much he’d neglected them of late and trying to distract himself from obsessing over Felicity, Oliver had agreed to dinner with Sara, Tommy and Laurel. The only problem being that his heart and mind were elsewhere with a certain ferocious blonde and he could barely concentrate on the conversation that was happening before him. 

Felicity’s words were a warning. A kind warning but a warning nevertheless that he needed to get his act together. He had gone into this with every intention of gallantly waiting on the sides while she lived her life and experienced all the things that your average 19 year old should experience. 

He was wrong on two counts however. Felicity Smoak in all her brilliant, talented and fearless glory was anything but average. Secondly he, Oliver Queen, could not stomach the thought of her living a life without him like he had insisted upon. He didn’t want her to kiss any boys. He wanted to punch all the boys she might kiss even if they didn’t exist yet. 

“Earth to Ollie. Ollie why would you agree to come out if you can’t even pretend to be interested in catching up with us.” Sara’s indignant voice jolts him from his depressing thoughts.

He suddenly spies that Laurel and Tommy are no long there and looks at their empty chairs in alarm. 

“They’ve gone to speak to some friends they spotted on the other side of the restaurant. You didn’t even notice did you?” Sara is now glaring at him, looking extremely annoyed. 

“What gives Ollie? Between training and taking off most weekends we barely even see you anymore.”

“Sorry,” Oliver mumbles sullenly and Sara thinks she hears a bunch of mumbles followed by a grunt and the word “stuff.” 

“Ollie if you’re having girl problems with Felicity Smoak it might be a good idea to use your words rather than mumble about “stuff”. I read somewhere that she’s an actual genius. Your chances will diminish further if she finds you incoherent.” 

Sara’s tone is light and teasing, obviously intended to lift Oliver out of his mood however all it manages to do is elicit a hostile glare from him.

Fortunately an alert goes off on both their phones and they both check it right away. Oliver because it might be a text from Felicity, Sara because she was feeling annoyed about being at the brunt of Ollie’s rudeness through no fault of her own. May as well ignore him and check her notifications. 

“Is this why you are in such a foul mood? Because Felicity took off this weekend and you can’t chase her around?” 

Sara waves a picture of Felicity in front of his nose. It was an Instagram update from her, a preliminary shot from her campaign. She was wearing a red beret with one shoulder bare while the rest of her body was strategically covered with what looked like a red silk sheet. Her lips were bright red and although she was styled to look like a seductress, there was the trademark sunshine and rainbows Felicity Smoak smile beaming at him. 

“God she’s hot,” Sara sighs staring appreciatively at the picture. “She’s one of those dangerous types. Alluring but cute as a button, which makes her even more out of reach. What happened Ollie? I thought you were making progress with her. There are hundreds of social media pics captured by fans of you two together.”

He hadn’t told anyone bar Coach Diggle (who had given him his very best _Boy you are too stupid to live_ look) about his self-imposed saga with Felicity so naturally Sara thought he was some perve biding his time to chase after Felicity.

“It’s complicated,” he says rubbing his face and momentarily looks away. 

“Whatever it is I’m sure it will work out,” Sara reassures him. “You’re a decent guy. Felicity could do worse.”

As a friendly gesture Sara places her hand on top of his and gives him a comforting pat. It was then that Oliver notices a few other patrons taking a snap of him and Sara with their mobile phones. 

Felicity. Felicity was going to see these pictures and assume he’d gone on a date with his ex for…reasons. She was going think that he either lapsed back into who he was years ago or that he didn’t care anymore. He had done nothing wrong here. He needed to get rid of those photos. 

“I saw two people taking photos of us. I need to get those pictures deleted,” he mutters, glaring at the offenders who had now packed their phones away and were back to enjoying their meals.

“Ollie are you insane or on drugs? Stop freaking the crap out and tell me what is going on.” 

***

“Oh Ollie,” Sara shakes her head in disbelief after he gives her a five minute run down of his self inflicted saga with Felicity. 

“You’re really stupid,” Sara cocks her head to one side, still staring at him as if to ask herself whether such a silly person really existed. 

“After Worlds it would have been a perfect time to tell her how to you feel. She wanted you to tell her how you feel but you went off on some dumbass tangent instead and told her to live her life and kiss other boys. Now you’re jealous and freaking out that she might move on and kiss other boys because you won’t move forward.” 

“I wanted her to be free and live her life untethered to me. There was no mention of kissing other boys. Why does everyone jump to that conclusion?” Oliver snaps wishing he could somehow undo everything and turn time back to that night after the Worlds Banquet.

“Well would kissing a girl be satisfactory for you?” Sara teases. She had no sympathy for drama llama Ollie and really wanted to needle him further. Poor Felicity Smoak. She was obviously in love with Ollie to put up with his nonsense. 

“How about I fly over next weekend, flirt with Felicity shamelessly and see if she wants to get a little crazy in college. That is what you wanted right? For her to really live and do crazy teenage things?” 

“Don’t you dare,” Oliver hisses at Sara looking bewildered, not having a clue that his friend was just goading him. 

“But that’s what you wanted,” Sara insists brightly with a smirk on her face. “I don’t mind. It would be an honour. Felicity is gorgeous.” 

She scrolls through her phone and waves a series of photos of Felicity in Oliver’s face. Oliver looks positively scandalized when he realises they are all shots of Felicity during her performances or practice and all taken at an angle that showcased her delectable derriere. 

“Why the hell have you got only photos of her…butt,” Oliver says with much hostility in his voice. “Why would you save these kinds if pictures of her?” 

“She’s a looker,” Sara shrugs not feeling the least bit guilty about it. She didn’t bother telling Ollie it was someone else’s collection she found on a blog, not her own and that she was simply using it to rouse him up. 

“You stay away from her,” Oliver warns Sara darkly and is about to say something else but fortunately Laurel and Tommy return to the table. 

Sara simply smirks and laughs. 

***

Felicity thinks she hears her phone but there is a part of her that wants to convince herself she’s dreaming so she can resume her peaceful slumber. 

 _You are the dancing queen, young and sweet, only seventeen_ her ringtone for Oliver (it was a slightly bitter joke on her part, one needed a bit of humour to deal with the Oliver situation) blares out again and this time there is no mistaking that Oliver is Face Timing her at goodness knows what time from the other side of the world. 

“Hello,” Felicity mumbles sleepily yawning at the phone. 

“Felicity, I know you’re sleeping but I had to call in case you see it in the morning,” came Oliver’s somewhat frantic voice and expression. 

“See what?” Felicity yawns lazily. Photo shoots were tiring and she was enjoying her fluffy as a cloud bed in the Shangri La. She simply had no energy to be as worked up as Oliver.

“Pictures of me and Sara my ex. We went out to a group dinner; the other two friends stepped away. I was telling Sara how much I missed you and someone took a picture of us. I don’t want you to get the wrong idea.” 

There he was looking frantic again. 

“Oh is that all?” Felicity mumbles carelessly. “Yes. Got it. Dinner with ex. Nothing going on. You ok or can I go back to bed now? I’ll call you tomorrow.” 

“Can I see you next week?” 

“Course you can. I have almost run out of food.” 

Felicity’s snuggling down and giving him a very sleepy, dreamy smile. Oliver can’t help but beam at her dotingly despite the state of panic he was in a few minutes ago.

“You’re not angry?” he asks hopefully.

“Not angry. Just sleepy. You are a silly man but I know you’re devoted to me,” Felicity sighs happily and gives him a sleepy smile before nodding off. 

“Love you,” Oliver whispers at her sleeping form before he hangs up. 

***

Oliver hastily pays the cab driver and practically bolts out of the cab as it pulls up to Felicity’s Boston skating club. Picking up his luggage with one arm as if it weighed nothing, he sprints into the rink, almost crashing into the electronic gates, which felt like they were taking an eternity to open after he scanned his access pass.

Once inside however he slows down, almost to a prowl as he quietly creeps towards the bleachers, making sure to keep himself hidden from Felicity’s line of sight.

Pulling out his skates, Oliver jams them onto his feet as quickly as he can. If he doesn’t find Felicity and tell her soon, he might just chicken out. Actually there was no chickening out at this juncture, no turning back. He’d completely uprooted his life. However he did know that the sooner he saw Felicity, the faster he could put a stop to the irrational fear that he was too late and that she’d already moved on. 

“No more jumps for the rest of the afternoon Felicity. I want you to do a series of one-footed turns across the ice like I showed you. Then I want you to twizzle back. Then change directions and repeat it again. After that I want you to see how long you can hold your Charlotte spiral for without losing your balance,” Coach Fei’s voice could be heard, albeit a bit muffled from Felicity’s tablet. 

“But Coach,” Felicity protests from a distance. “I haven’t practiced any jumps today.” 

“There will always be plenty of time for jumps. There are no competitions right now. I want you to stop jumping for the next few days and keep doing what I tell you,” came Coach Fei’s serene reply.

“But,” Felicity is about to protest again only to be interrupted. 

“Did you not express a wish to attain better ice coverage? Did you not tell me you do not wish to be known as a jumping bean? The jumps have never been a problem and you can jump to your heart’s content another day. Listen to me Felicity. Do not obsess over the jumps.” 

Felicity nods and signs off with Coach Fei before she proceeds to move across the ice as he instructed.

Damn she’s fast, Oliver thinks to himself. He had learnt a great deal about figure skating in the course of his friendship with Felicity and he could tell how much lighter and airier her movements were compared to before, despite putting on more muscle to perform those quads she was so obsessed with. 

Oliver watches and waits quietly until Felicity finishes her practice and skates to the boards for a drink. Without thinking he pops up and waves at her enthusiastically. 

“FELICITY,” he practically shouts, causing her to slide forward a bit in surprise. 

“Oliver! What are you doing here? Aren’t I supposed to pick you up on Friday?” He’s completely caught her by surprise but the big, beautiful smile on Felicity’s face that tells him exactly how she feels about seeing him. 

“I did it! I signed a contract with the Boston Bruins. I’m moving here next season to be with you because I love you. I love you so much and I’m sorry I was so stupid before. I don’t want you to kiss anyone, only me and I just want to share my life with you and for us to be happy together because I love you.” 

He pulls her in for a crushing hug which Felicity returns, albeit more tentatively than he anticipates. 

“Felicity is everything ok?” he pulls his head back to get a good look at her face, despite still holding her against him. 

She was looking…spirited. 

He had only seen this look on her face once, captured on televised footage during her Grand Prix final skate two years ago. Felicity had crashed and burned through her short program and the next day started her free program with what Thea deemed “fierce face.” 

Yup this is definitely fierce face staring at him right now. Oliver gulps and swallows. 

“Let me get this straight. You, Oliver Queen, decided you couldn’t be with me because I had to be free as you put it but you would always pine for me. Unilateral decision which you refused to really discuss with me. Then you seemingly had some revelation on your own, signed a contract with a new team so you could move here to be with me. Another unilateral decision which you never discussed with me. So am I supposed to be ever so grateful that you have come to your senses? I’m just supposed to accept this new decision of yours? What happens when you decide to make another decision on your own Oliver?” 

She’s untangled herself from him now, hands on her hips, and cheeks crimson. Her eyes were bluer than he’d ever seen and they were flashing dangerously. 

Well that went down like a tonne of bricks. Felicity certainly brought up some very valid points that he hadn’t even stopped to think about, having been so caught up in the thrill of finally getting to be with her.

“I…you’re right. I am so sorry Felicity. I’m a jerk. I was wrong and I’m sorry. I should never have undermined you like that. Goes against everything I’ve been saying I wanted for you. You weren’t free. I took away your ability to make a choice when I decided I couldn’t be with you. One thing that has never changed is that I love you. That’s all I have to offer for now. I can work on everything else but please know that I love you. And I hope that you love me too.” 

“I do,” Felicity huffs with annoyance, although her body relaxes a little. “I do love you very much.” 

“Please give me another chance?” Oliver pleads, this time knowing when to seize his chance.

Felicity lets out a sigh and gives him a long, scrutinising look. Then her face morphs into an impish grin. 

“If you can catch me within five minutes of that clock up there, I will have you.”

She laughs at his stunned expression before skating away at top speed. Two can play this game Oliver thinks to himself as he glides after her. 

*** 

It wasn’t until three minutes and fifty seconds into their chase that it occurred to Oliver this was no playful hijinks on Felicity’s part. Felicity was…fast. Extremely fast much to his dismay. Her ice coverage was insane and the speeds that she managed to attain were no laughing matter. At least not when his happiness depended on it. 

The last straw came when she had the audacity to tease him by throwing in a Charlotte spiral, which she held for several seconds before grinning wickedly at him and zooming off again. It was then that Oliver decided he needed to use whatever wits he possessed. 

Clutching his sides dramatically, Oliver throws himself onto the ice and starts to howl in pain.

“Oliver,” Felicity shouts when she sees him double over and skates over to him, concern written all over her face. “Oliver what happened?” 

“Gotcha,” Oliver shouts gleefully, getting up and wrapping both of his arms around her waist. “You said I had to catch you in five minutes, you didn’t specify how.” 

Felicity tries to half-heartedly wriggle out of his grip but he manages to scoop her neatly up into his arms. 

“Definitely caught you now,” he says, nuzzling her cheek. 

“You cheated,” Felicity pouts poking him in the chest. 

“I used my brains. You should be proud,” he tells her shamelessly as he skates around swinging her in his arms. “I’m never letting you go now that I’ve caught you.” 

“I’ve done just about every turn, spin and jump there is on ice but I’ve never been carried around on it before. I like it here in your arms,” Felicity beams at him and winds her arms around his neck.

“I love you,” he whispers before leaning down to kiss her softly on the lips.

**Author's Note:**

> PS can you guess who Felicity and her coach are very loosely based on?


End file.
